Foreword

Written by  Alfredo Santini
When we meet with our friends on the editorial committee, it is always cause for joy and pride to see how Ferrara provides an endless supply of arguments worthy of discussion. Every time we make a choice, we realize how much more space ideally ought to be devoted to each topic.

In this issue, for example, talking of Girolamo Savonarola meant concentrating on only one aspect ol his time in Ferrara; in the same way, in wishing to remind readers that Ferrara is not only a city of painters and musicians, but also of poets, we had to limit ourselves to considering only the latest crop of promising literary talents: and, again, in order to pay tribute to the fascinating task of safeguarding our dialect we had to compress many years of glorious testimony into a few pages.

Our city is seen by outsiders as a privileged place, fertile ground for fertile ideas, such as the Fiera del Restauro, where an in-depth conference on the role of bank Foundations in safeguarding the cultural heritage produced some original guidelines on how it has become necessary for the said bodies to draw up a detailed programme of activities.

The feeling is that Ferrara is a remarkably attractive stage where, no matter you look, thanks to first class art exhibitions, enchanting palazzi, cherry trees in blossom, vintage cars and the colour of simple day to day activities, the quality of life is decidedly high.

As the representative of our body, will this magazine be able to remind us that the effort required to sustain the city's high tenor of life must come to all of us? After all, Ferrara. Voci di una città is only a notebook, a space worth watching, a pause in which to remember.